Review: LUXA2 GroovyW Bluetooth Speaker with Wireless
Charging
By: Christopher “Synther” Wilson
It seems like you can’t throw a Silly Puddy egg, these
days, without hitting something that supports Bluetooth connectivity. A lot of these devices have questionable
functionality, such as the Bluetooth eCigarette that lets you talk on your
phone while you vape. And then there are
the devices that truly add functionality and enjoyment to our life. I have found that the LUXA2 GroovyW Bluetooth
Speaker with Wireless Charging lands at the very top of the latter category.
I generally come to a product review with the idea that
nothing will ever get a perfect 10/10 from me.
However, in this case, I was truly unable to find any flaw in the
function of the GroovyW. Not only does
it do what it was advertised as doing, but it literally has to be heard to be
believed! And it’s pretty sexy while it
does it.
The
GroovyW Bluetooth Speaker
The top of the GroovyW speaker has your touch panel
controls that are illuminated by a soft blue LED. The controls are fairly basic with
Play/Pause/Answer and Volume Up and Down controls. Track Forward/Backward is to be controlled
from your phone or audio device. To the
left of the touch panel is the Bluetooth indicator. The indicator will flash while pairing with
your phone/tablet/MP3 Player and stay a steady blue color when connected. The color of the Bluetooth indicator will
change to a solid red when you plug in an analog audio device, such as an older
iPod.
Moving
to the left of the Bluetooth indicator is the speaker phone mic. Yes, the GroovyW functions as a speaker
phone, too! And the sound quality on
both the mic and the speaker are amazing!
This speaker got me through a lengthy call with Microsoft Windows 8.1
Technical Support and saved my neck from cramping in the process. There was never any question from either side
on what was being said and the quality is good enough that I can easily imagine
the GroovyW being used in a business meeting type environment.
To the left of the speaker phone are the battery
indicator and the NFC touch pad. The
battery indicator will come on if you tap the power button once. As I stated, the GroovyW has a 2200mAh
battery by itself, so it is going to be able to play a lot of music before it
needs to be charged, even at full volume (the speaker’s output is 7w). The NFC pad allows you to connect Bluetooth
devices that support NFC. If you are not
aware of what NFC is, it is a technology that allows you to simply touch your
phone to the device to activate certain functions. In this case, touching your NFC enabled phone
or tablet to the GroovyW will automatically enable Bluetooth connectivity and
pairing. This saves you from having to
turn on Bluetooth, find the GroovyW listed, selecting it, and then waiting for
the pairing. The back of the GroovyW is
a simple affair consisting of a power button, a micro-USB port for charging,
and the Auxiliary analog input port (an analog Aux cable is included with the
speaker). Holding the power button down
will turn the GroovyW on/off and activate Bluetooth. Tapping the power button will engage the
battery indicator to show the charge remaining.
On the bottom of the GroovyW you will find a Qi charging ring for
docking with the Wireless Charging Station.
The
Wireless Charging Station
The included Wireless Charging Station will literally
power any of your USB devices or Qi equipped devices and a USB to USB/micro-USB
cable is included with the Charging Station.
Qi equipped devices can be set directly onto the charging ring on top of
the Charging Station to begin recharging, such as the GroovyW Bluetooth Speaker
itself. To power on the Charging
Station, press the power button on the back side and the charging lights will
come on. The lights will flash in
sequence when charging a device and the Charging Station will beep once
(loudly!) when it is connected to a device.
The Charging Station will also beep when it is on its last bar and about
to need charging. Charging the Station
is a simple matter of plugging in a micro-USB cable to a powered USB device or
USB wall socket.
The
Groovy Audio Center App
The GroovyW also has an app, available for free via
Google Play, that allows you to control aspects of the GroovyW Bluetooth
Speaker. It will allow for pairing
status, has an Equalizer with the most common presets, direct access to your
personal music library on your phone or tablet, and includes an internet radio
function. The radio function is one of
the more interesting functions I’ve seen and allows you to connect to a multitude
of music, talk radio, and just about anything else you can conceive of by using
your phone or tablet’s internet connection.
Functionality,
Testing, and Comparison
In addition to using the speaker phone function, I had
decided that I really wanted to put the GroovyW Bluetooth Speaker with Wireless
Charging through its paces to test it out.
Getting the device to review was a huge boon. My wife and I had been casually looking at
getting a Bluetooth speaker, since we had decided to get a bit more fit this
summer by going on more camping trips than a National Lampoons movie. The GroovyW arrived just in time for us to go
on our next expedition up into the heart of the Mt. Hood National Forrest.
Our
friends had brought their own Bluetooth speakers, as well, and this was a
perfect opportunity to test the GroovyW against other devices. One such device was a rechargeable flashlight
with a Bluetooth speaker and charger built into the handle. Honestly, for a flashlight, the sound was
pretty good on that. The other device
was the GoalZero Rock Out 2 Solar Speaker system. The Rock Out 2 allows for solar charging and
about 5-hours of play time on the speakers.
The sound is fairly good and it’s really designed for backpackers, but
the sound was the closest in quality to the GroovyW. And then there was the GroovyW, which
basically just blew the competition away in every way.
My wife and I arrived at the camp site around 2:30pm on
Friday and the GroovyW was turned on and paired by around 3:15pm. It was used for long periods, with only short
breaks where it was turned off, until we packed up and went home around 2:00pm
Sunday afternoon. And while the Charging
Station was on its last bar, the GroovyW still had two bars of power left.
During the weekend:
*The volume was turned up all the way on the GroovyW and
we controlled volume via the controls on my phone or the iPod.
*We used a mix of audio apps ranging from the Groovy
Audio Center to Google Music with cached songs ranging from Charlie Parker and
Frank Sinatra to Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin to Kidney Thieves and
Information Society.
*The Equalizer was always set for “Rock” and the Bass
Boost was at 50% to 75% the entire time.
*We used the Charging Station to charge two phones from
50% to full.
*We used the Charging Station to charge the GroovyW from
2 bars to full. Twice.
Of the three Bluetooth speakers on the trip, the GroovyW
had the most battery life, hands down.
While the Bluetooth Flashlight Speaker was admirable, it didn’t have the
sound quality of either the Rock Out 2 or the GroovyW. And while the sound quality of the Rock Out 2
was fairly good, the GroovyW seemed to have a much better range between lows
and highs. Low end bass on speakers this
size is problematic. While you obviously
will not get the low rumbling bass on any portable Bluetooth speaker, the
GroovyW has a good range dropping from the mid down to the low end and the
highs are crystal clear.
Conclusion
I simply can’t say enough good things about the GroovyW
Bluetooth Speaker with Wireless Charging.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate the GroovyW an 11. It was a pleasure to use and an amazing
device. I easily see the GroovyW being a
regular staple item to be packed on every trip I go on and plan to take it to
the coast with me this weekend. If
you’re looking for portable tunes, the GroovyW Bluetooth Speaker with Wireless
Charging is definitely the way to go.
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